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Yeah, no kidding. I was working with my Pilates instructor (no snickering, please) and still couldn't get them. I keep running into my rib cage with my upper leg.

Train them with your arms straight up by your ears, if that's the issue. People lean forward more than they actually need to, most of the time. Arms and the top of the head up to the ceiling on the stand-up.

Also think about tucking your heels into your butt at the last possible second--while you're rolling you should be pushing your heels out towards the floor like you're pushing them against a resisting force. Feet come in when they're just barely off the ground.

Train them with your arms straight up by your ears, if that's the issue. People lean forward more than they actually need to, most of the time. Arms and the top of the head up to the ceiling on the stand-up.

Also think about tucking your heels into your butt at the last possible second--while you're rolling you should be pushing your heels out towards the floor like you're pushing them against a resisting force. Feet come in when they're just barely off the ground.

I wasn't at this class, but I think I know this rolling drill.

Anthony and I do this just slightly different but his advice here is spot on. One difference is with the arms...we need to be able to do this with arms engaged (either with pistol/long gun in hand, or hands up to defend/attack). I tend to teach this with arms forward rather than up...but to help learn the technique initially, arms up is a good training wheels method.

A big key is one heel tucked close as possible to your butt. I extend the front foot further out. In application you're usually trying to get some forward momentum on the get up, but as a warm up exercise we tend just to stand straight up.

Just a comment on that rolling get-up from my experience - I spent a lot of time on a trampoline as a kid, and a lot of the technique in that get-up translates directly to things I learned on the trampoline. We used to jump on our backs/shoulders, just like the rearward part of that getup with the feet in the air (you can jump repeatedly in that position and actually go pretty high), and the roll forward into standing is very similar to a lot of the rolling around we did as well.

If you have access to a trampoline, they are an easy low-impact way to work on some of those skills.